PROBUS CLUB VANCOUVER
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Probus Club of Vancouver held at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club, 1630 West 16th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. on February 7, 2012 at the hour of 9:30am.
PRESENT:
Bill Sexsmith – Past President
Don Newman – President
Wayne Audette – Vice President
Doug Lambert – House Committee Chairman
Conrad Rademaker – Membership Committee Chairman
Bill Robertson – Activities Committee Chairman
Jon Collins – Membership Services Committee Chairman
Brian Wasson –Secretary
Gordon Thom – Historian and Archivist
Calling Meeting to Order
President, Don Newman called the meeting to order at 9:30 am.
Brian Wasson acted as Secretary.
A quorum of members being present, the Chairman declared the meeting properly constituted for the transaction of business.
1. Minutes of Meeting of December 6, 2011
ON MOTION DULY MADE AND SECONDED AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
the Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting of December 6, 2011 were approved with the correction of the name Beaty under item 4.2.
2. Business arising from the Minutes of October 4, 2011
.1 Special Meeting for Mark Carney
All agreed the event was an outstanding success. With 260 members attending it was the largest club turnout ever. The out of pocket expense was $1,054.
.2 Presidents’ Luncheon
The Chairman distributed an historical summary of past Presidents’ lunches from 2007 to the disappointing attendance at the 2012 event(copy attached) with the query whether the club should revert to the members only format at a golf club. A request for comment brought a diversity of opinion other than the venue being rejected. It was proposed that a survey be distributed in the form of the questionnaire prepared by Wayne Audette,(copy attached) with some tweaking of the wording of the questions, to be handed out at the next two monthly meetings for immediate return. Wayne Audette was requested to table the survey results at the April Management Meeting for review and action. The financial results of the 2012 Presidents’ Lunch were tabled by Bill Robertson(copy attached) showing a loss of $972.76). A sub-committee of Doug Lambert, Bill Robertson with Wayne Audette as Chairman will bring recommendations for the format of the 2013 Presidents’ Luncheon.
.3 Treasurer’s Report
In the absence of Treasurer Richard Carson, Wayne Audette distributed a financial report for the six months ending on January 31, 2011. Highlights are the repayment of the $2,500 loan for Rendezvous 2011 and the payment of the insurance premium to Probus Canada. Comment was made that the budget was prepared on an active membership of 344 when, in fact, it is closer to 380. The Chairman pointed out that a number of Management would like to have a current membership total.
4. Programs
.1 Speakers
In the absence of Brian Maunder, the Chairman reported on the Speakers Committee activities. The Speakers Chairman has had to replace the February speaker with Michael O’Brien, Vice President and Corporate Secretary of YVR and a new speaker for March, Dr. John Sloan, on geriatric care for the elderly. The list is therefore complete until June.
.2 Membership
Committee Chairman Conrad Rademaker distributed a report(copy attached), commenting that there are 17 potential members on the waiting list with the program to introduce 4 at each of the following monthly meetings. Membership now stands at 388, and 14 inactive. Membership close to 400 is considered to be the ideal.
.3 House
House Chairman Doug Lambert reported that the Club has signed up for a further year at the Planetarium with a small increase in cost. He said otherwise, things are ticking over.
.4 Activities
Bill Robertson reported that the Beaty Biodiversity Museum tour on March 20 is oversubscribed. It leads to the question of whether Activities should follow the airlines in deliberately overbooking as there are always no-shows for events.
A number of suggestions came forward
-Confine activities to members
-experiment with overbooking
-confine the list to paid up participants
-all attendance to be prepaid, no payment at the door
-no refund if cancellation within 48 hours of the event
Promotion of events is successful. It was suggested that activities described on the front page of the Website be limited to future events with past events being reported elsewhere.
Upcoming events are moving ahead well.
Beaty Biodiversity Museum March 20 is overbooked
Van Dusen visit April 16
UBC Wine Research Centre June 19
Vancouver Aquarium visit September 25
Reifel Bird Sanctuary visit October
.5 Member Services
Jon Collins reported that the Website Committee has progressed in its progam, firstly comparing the content of our website with others. There are recommendations to changes to increase font size, have only current material on the front page and refer to club activities. He is pleased how the committee has taken hold of its tasks.The Chairman suggested a write up of the Website activities in the Newsletter every two months or so. .
.6 Newsletter
The cutoff for the March newsletter is February 24, 2011
.7 Archivist
Nothing to report.
5. New Business
.1 Results of 2011 Membership Survey
A copy of the survey and the results was circulated at the meeting(copy attached).
The areas of discontent are centred around the coffee hour and limited opportunity to socialize. The Chairman advocated the set up of two coffee stations and a request to cool down the room. Conrad Rademaker suggested that the proposer and seconder of a new member be responsible for introducing him around.
.2 Future of the Valentine’s Lunch
It was quickly declared to fall in the Activities jurisdiction. The Chairman suggested that a survey be taken on the membership’s interest. This item will be considered at the next meeting.
.3 Succession Planning
Past President Bill Sexsmith requested the members of the Board of Directors to get their successions recommendations to him in the next ten days. There are going to be some gaps to address.
.4 Goals for 2011-2012
The Chairman reviewed the Goals set out in the attached summary.
1. Centralized Administrative Services is off the table but not forgotten.
2.
2,1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6, 2.7, 2.9, and 2.12 are in progress or complete.
2.2 The issue of a head count at meetings was deemed a non-issue.
2.6 The President and Secretary will develop standards for “Probus” special interest clubs.
2.11 The current official email address for the Club rests with Doug Lambert.
4. The directors of the Club do not form a separate executive but are ex officio from being officers. The directors have a number of statutory duties which will conducted in the presence of the other members of the Board of Directors.
5. There is no reason to have a separate formal person acting as liaison with other Probus
clubs.
6 The question of splitting into two Probus clubs can be deferred to the time when the level of attendance makes the move desirable.
6. Air time February Meeting
Conrad Rademaker to introduce new members
Bill Robertson to describe Activities
7. Adjournment
The next meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at the VANCOUVER LAWN TENNIS AND BADMINTON Club at 9:30 am.
There being no further business, upon motion the meeting terminated.
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Don Newman, President
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Brian Wasson, Secretary